Whiskey liquor is a desired drink, widely consumed by the old and the young
May be the very young would prefer some other varieties as there is no dearth of them; but a certain sect of age would swear by whiskey or whisky as it is called and spelt. The real old and cutely witty would also find an excuse or a valid reason to have a peg of the whiskey liquor – under the pretext of “it has medicinal value” but the hard core whiskey lovers take this as an offence and feel that they have no respect for the taste and luxury of the drink.
Whiskey is grain fermented liquor. It surely is liquor, though some people tend to opine differently. The point to be made here is that it is not to be mixed up with a liqueur. (We may deal with this debate later)
The famous liquor whiskey (whisky) is basically a product of fermented pulp of grain cereals. This also includes various Whiskeys of the United States, Scotch Canadian and Irish whiskey. This fermented spirit is matured in containers made of white oak. This liquor is spelt with an ‘e’ in the United States and without an ‘e’ by the Scots and Canadians. As per records, the earliest whiskey was found made in the Scottish countries – as far back as the 1494.
Whiskey liquor is of a wide category. Whiskey is also distilled from barley, corn wheat or rye besides fermented grains. We can have a little peep into its preparation and types.
Grain whiskey. This entire preparation is of malted barley.
Single malt whiskey: This means from a single/one distillery. This spirit is made from whiskey from one distillery. They will be from one cask and labeled as “single cask”. At times single malts can be made of whiskeys which are of different years.
Vatted Malt Whiskey: This one is a blend of malt from more than one distillery. This one may usually not carry the distillery’s name.
Malt Whiskey: This preparation is entirely of malted barley.
Pure Pot Still Whiskey: This is exclusively available in Ireland. It is distilled from unmalted and malted barley in a pot-still.
Cask Strength Whiskey: A very rarely available type. This one is very strong and undiluted. You have the privilege to dilute it to palate your own taste buds.
Blended Whiskey: Similar to vatted malt whiskey, this blended liquor is made of spirits from different distilleries. Hence they will not carry a label of the distillery’s name. This is made of grain as well as malt whiskeys.
Different countries apply different standards to their whiskey liquor.
Irish whiskey: This one is usually enjoys Irish monopoly. Majority of these are blends after being distilled thrice. It can be pot-stilled malt whiskey or un-malted pot-stilled.
Scotch whiskey: As its name goes – It’s made only in Scotland. This one goes through double distillation. After the malt is dried on peat-fueled fire, it is smoked. This gives the whiskey a strong smoky flavor.
Then we also have the Japanese and Canadian whiskies – which are great and desirable whiskey liquor.